opendirectoryd process has very high CPU

I also had this problem with OS X El Capitan 10.11.6, but deleting the files in SystemConfiguration didn't help (nor did the Apple link about Directory Utility help or the other thread about removing ssh access. opendirectoryd was only causing problems when my wifi was on and dropbox was running. It turned out to be a bunch of broken symlinks within Dropbox.

This described the problem, but I found the solution difficult to follow:

http://superuser.com/questions/350879/opendirectoryd-consumes-40-of-cpu

Here has the solution:

http://www.commandlinefu.com/commands/view/2369/find-broken-symlinks-and-delete- them

In a nutshell, first check if you have broken symlinks by typing the command:

find ~/Dropbox/ -type l -print0 | xargs -0 file | grep broken

or more simply

find -L ~/Dropbox -type l

Then remove them one by one with this command:

find -L ~/Dropbox -type l -exec rm -i {} +

or all at once with this command:

find -L ~/Dropbox -type l -delete

Please triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration

Right-click or control-click the line and select

Services ▹ Open

from the contextual menu.* A folder named "SystemConfiguration" should open. Move the contents of that folder to the Trash, except the file with this name:

com.apple.Boot.plist

Leave that file where it is.

You may be prompted for your administrator login password. Restart the computer and test.

If there's no change, restore each of the items you deleted from a backup, overwriting the one that may have been created in its place.

If the problem is resolved, you may need to recreate some of your settings in the Network and Energy Saver preference panes.

*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. In the Finder, select

Go ▹ Go to Folder...

from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. You may not see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.